Wire-fastener.



No. 869,458. PATENTED 0013.29 1907. L. R. PEEPLBS.

WIRE FASTENER.

AIPLIOATION FILED JAN.9.1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

l Muse: MW 5% w PATENTED OCT. 29. 1907.

L. R. PEEPLES.

WIRE FASTENER.

APPLIUATION FILED JAN.9.1907.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Pi q .7.

QXN in zoom LAWRENCE R. PEEPLES, OF SHAWNEETOWN, ILLINOIS.

WIRE-FASTENER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 29, 1907.

Application filed January 9, 1907- Serial No. 351,508.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE R. PEEILES, a citizen of the United States,residing at Shawneetown, in the county of Gallatin, State of lllinois,have invented certain new and useful improvements in Wire-Fasteners; andI do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention has relation to means for securing the longitudinal orother wires of a fence to the fence-post.

Heretofore, it has been common to staple the wires of a fence to itsposts when the latter were composed of wood that permitted this to bedone. In the case of cement or metallic posts it has been usual topermanently secure the wire-fastening means in the ost, or at leastpermanently secure the means in the post to which the nire-fasteningmeans are connected.

It is the object of my invention to provide improvements whereby boththe keys which secure the wires of the fence to the posts as well as thepin which engages and connects the keys with the posts may be removable,in order to impart greater range of usefulness to the post and thewirefastening means, and secure the ends of economy as well.

The nature of the invention is embodied in the devices portrayed in theannexed drawings, forming a part of this specification, in view of whichit will be fully described with respect to its construction and mode ofoperation, and then be pointed out in the subjoined claims.

Of the said drawingsFigure 1 is a front view of the fence post having myimprovements applied thereto in which the longitudinal wires of thefence run in the plane of the front face of the post. Fig. 2 is ahorizontal section taken in theplane 2 2, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is aperspective view of a post in which the fence wires run as in Fig. 1,but in which the key or fastening wires pass cornerwise through the postfrom one side to an adjacent side. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section ofFig. 3. Fig.

.5 is a side view of a fence post in which the wires are maintained inconnection therewith as shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a sectional view ofthe same, the course of the keys or fastening device through the postbeing shown in dotted lines. Fig. 7 is an elevation of the pin or rod bywhich the keys or wire fasteners are secured in the posts. Figs. 8 and 9are perspective views of different forms of keys or wire fastening meansthat may be employed in the invention.

Similar numerals of reference designate similar parts or features, asthe case maybe, wherever they occur.

My improvements are particularly applicable to cement posts and hencethe post represented in the drawings may be supposed to be of thischaracter though it will appear obvious that the improvements may beapplied to posts composed of iron or other material as well as cementposts.

Having reference to the drawings for more particular explanation of theinvention Ill indicatcs a fcncc post which may be, as shown in Fig. 1,of a roi'rtangular form in cross section provided centrally andlongitudinally with a hole 12 into and through which from the top thepin 13 may be inserted, said pin having on its upper end a conical cap14 to shed rain or water from outering the holes and also a wire loop orhandle 15 by which the pin may be takcn hold of and withdrawn from thehole 12. intersecting the said vertical hole 12 from the face of thepost are numerous holcs 16 which may run horizontally as shown in F 1and 2, or in inclined direction downward as shown in Fig. 7.

1.7 designates what, for the purposes of this specification 1 term a keyfor fastening the wires to the post, which key consists of a bar ofmetal having a flattcncd inner end 18 provided with an eye 19 of adiamctcr sufficient for the pin 13 to extend thcrcthrough, and having ahook 20 or other suitable wire-engaging means on its outer end. insteadof flattening the entire inner end of the key, as just described thesaid inner end may be made round, as at 18 with a flattened or otherwiseformed part at a proper point so as to have an eye 19 formed through it.in all cases the key will be provided with detachable wire-engagingmeans on its front end, and an eye will be formed through its rear endfor thorcception of the pin. The latter is a means for detachablysecuring the keys in a fence-post, while the key itself dctachablyengages the wires of the fence.

in the employment of my invention, as already in timatcd, 1 may form ahole longitudinally and centrally in the post 11, and make as manytransverse holes 16 thcrcin as may be desired from the front face inwardintersecting the said vertical holcs, and in some cases passing bcyondit. i then proceed to connect the uppermost wire of the fence with thehook 20 of the key 17, when the shank of the key will be inserted in thehole 16 of the post until the eye 19 comes into alincmcnt with vthevertical holc when the point of the pin will be passed through the saideye, securing the key and its attached fence wire to the post. I proceedin this manner from the top to bottom until all of the wires are sccnrcdto the post and until the pin 13 is fully inscrtcd in the vertical holeand its cap 14 rests on top of the post.

When it is dcsired to dctachithe wires, the pin will be withdrawn andall of the keys 17 released by being simply unhookcd from the wires andthe parts disposed of as desired.

'In some instances the holes 16 for the keys may be made corncrwiscthrough the post as shown in Fig. 3 in which case the outer ends of saidholes will be arranged on a central longitudinal line on the front faceof the post and extend diagonally through said post to either of thesaid sides so that when the keys 17 are placed in the holes as beforestated with the fence wires secured to the hooks 20 the eyes 19 of saidkeys will project beyond the said adjacent side of the post sufficientlyfar for the pin 13 to enter them as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 in which casethe longitudinal wires of the fence will be bound to the post as beforestated with reference to Figs. 1 and 2 and the pin and keys will berendered removable and detachable from the wires as before stated.

In another instance the holes 16 may extend tln'ough the post from thefront to the rear side as shown in Figs. 5 and 6 in which case the keyswill be inserted through from the front face of the post to and beyondthe rear thereof so that the eyes of the rear of the post will be invertical alinement to receive the pin 13 and confine them therein in thesame way as previously set forth.

Instead of extending the holes on horizontal lines in the posts asrepresented in Fig. 2 they may in all cases be arranged in downwardinclined direction as indicated in Fig. 5 so that any water enteringsaid holes will run down out of the same and not stand therein to rustor injure the keys. It is intended, however, to

make the keys as well as the pin of galvanized iron so as far aspossible to prevent corrosion. In all instances whatever the form of thekeys and pin 13 as well as the holes through the post may take, it isproposed to make both the keys and the pin removable so that when it isdesired to take down the fence the work can be readily accomplished andthe pin and keys taken out of the post and the former detached from thefence wires so as to be reusable in the setting of a new fence.

\Vhat is claimed is- 1. Means for detachabiy engaging the wires of afence to a fence post, consisting of a key comprising a straight hairadapted to be inserted in the holes of a post, and hav ing a hook on itsforward end to detachaoly engage the wire ofa fence and provided on itsopposite end with an eye, and a pin removably engaged with said eye.

2. The combination, with a fencepost provided with holes for thereception of removable keys having hooks on their outer ends todetachably engage the wires of a fence;

